Yes, I have cancer and carotid artery disease. But I’m okay. Really.

It all started in mid-August with what appears to have been a migraine episode. And then two weeks later another episode. With all of this came headaches and, the best way I can describe it, a mental fog. I functioned, but I wasn’t all there.  

Yeah, friends, I know what you’re thinking, “Brent, when have you ever been all there?”

When I finally went to the doc, to rule out a major event she ordered a brain MRI and a carotid artery ultrasound due to a family history of carotid disease. The brain MRI showed nothing significant. Again, friends, I know what you’re thinking.

The carotid ultrasound, however, showed two things: moderate to severe stenosis of the left carotid artery and, incidentally, a nodule on my thyroid. A subsequent thyroid ultrasound indicated a high probability of cancer.

While waiting on follow-up appointments in Northwest Arkansas, the Lord, through a dear friend, opened a door to see two great doctors in Little Rock. The vascular doctor, after another ultrasound, said the stenosis of the left internal carotid artery is not as severe as earlier indicated. He called it moderate. At this point, it requires continued monitoring. Given my family history, none of this is surprising.

The endocrine surgeon performed another thyroid ultrasound. She said there was only a 5-10% chance of cancer, but a biopsy was required, which she promptly did. A few days later, the results popped up in the clinic’s app, “POSITIVE FOR MALIGNANT CELLS.” She called and talked me through the diagnosis and scheduled surgery for October 28. We will know about any need for follow-up treatment after the post-surgery pathology.

And then she said, “It is a blessing you had those symptoms, otherwise you would not know about the carotid artery disease or the cancer.”

She’s right. We caught the cancer early and the likelihood of further issues from it are slim. And while the carotid stenosis likely will worsen over time and could pose serious problems, we know it’s there and can be proactive if it does.

And, yes, all of this is a blessing. Not luck. Not good fortune. Not chance. But Divine Providence. Cindy and I are thankful for the migraine episodes, the headaches, and the brain fog, for through these uncomfortable and frustrating symptoms God showed us so much more we needed to know.

And, by the way, I don’t mean knowing about the carotid artery disease and cancer. What we needed to know was that He is and that we can trust Him in the fog.

So, really, I am okay.